GIFT   OF 


"    ' 


THE  GILBERT  SYSTEM 


OF 


ORCHARD  PLANTING 


BY 


RALPH  D.  GILBERT 


BOSTON 
COPYRIGHTED  1913  BY  RALPH  D.  GILBERT 


THE  GILBERT  SYSTEM 

OF 

ORCHARD  PLANTING 


BY 


RALPH  D.  GILBERT 


BOSTON 
1913 


THE  GILBERT  SYSTEM  OF  ORCHARD  PLANTING 

BY 
RALPH  D.  GILBERT 


The  advantages  of  this  system  of  planting  are  that  it  allows 
the  land  to  be  more  fully  occupied  all  the  time  than  when  the 
trees  are  planted  in  squares,  and  that  the  thinning  may  be  done 
as  needed,  without  spoiling  the  final  symmetry  of  the  orchard. 
On  the  scale  shown  the  original  trees  are  planted  so  that  each 
is  20  feet  distant  from  six  others,  thus  forming  a  hexagon  and 
in  the  mature  orchard  each  tree  will  be  40  feet  distant  from  six 
others.  In  square  planting  forty  feet  apart  there  are  27  trees  to 
the  acre  while  in  hexagonal  planting  there  are  33  trees.  If  the 
six  additional  trees  produce  three  barrels  of  apples  each  it  adds 
18  barrels  to  the  acre  which  at  $3.00  per  barrel  means  an  increase 
of  $54.00  per  acre  per  year;  an  item  worth  considering.  It 
makes  provision  for  cross  pollenization  of  two  varieties,  which 
is  very  important,  and  is  so  arranged  that  the  number  of  trees  in 
the  permanent  orchard  may  be  equally  divided  between  two 
varieties,  or  if  one  variety  proves  to  be  much  more  profitable 
than  the  other,  the  trees  of  that  variety  may  predominate.  No 
man  can  say  today,  which  variety  would  be  the  most  profitable 
to  grow  in  1930,  and  planted  in  this  way,  you  have  an  option  on 
varieties  until  about  20  years  after  the  orchard  is  planted.  The 
"fillers"  may  cost  30c.  each  and  20c.  to  set  them,  but  in  8  years 
they  have  paid  for  themselves,  and  the  following  8  years  they 
should  be  very  profitable. 

A  setting  board  like  the  one  shown  on  the  following  page 
from  bulletin  #141,  of  the  Vermont  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  will  be  found  convenient  to  use  to  make  sure  that  the 
tree  when  set,  shall  stand  in  exactly  the  place  indicated  by  the 
stake  before  the  hole  was  dug. 

In  staking  out  the  orchard,  the  stakes  for  a  certain  number 
of  units  should  be  stained  or  painted  to  correspond  with  colors  on 
circles  of  diagram  to  insure  against  confusion  and  misplacing  of 
varieties  when  setting  the  trees.  It  is  also  advisable  to  set  all  the 
trees  of  one  variety  in  a  given  area  before  bringing  the  other  vari- 
eties into  the  field,  planting  varieties  indicated  by  red  and  blue 
circles  before  planting  green. 


LOCATING  PLANTING  BOARD  STAKES 


LOCATING  TREE  BY  PLANTING  BOARD 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  planting  board  is  used  to  insure  planting  the  trees  in 
exactly  the  place  where  the  stakes  stood  when  laying  out  the 
orchard.  The  notch  should  be  cut  half  across  the  board  and  in 
line  with  the  end  holes  and  exactly  half  way  between  them. 
After  staking  out  the  field  place  the  planting  board  against  the 
stakes  as  shown  in  the  upper  cut  and  drive  two  stakes  of  the 
same  color  through  the  end  holes.  The  board  and  center  stake 
may  now  be  removed  and  the  hole  dug  or  dynamited.  After 
the  hole  is  ready  to  receive  the  tree,  slip  the  planting  board  back 
in  place  and  by  holding  the  tree  in  the  center  notch  where  the 
original  stake  first  stood  you  will  get  the  tree  located  exactly 
right.  Instead  of  having  holes  in  the  ends  of  the  board  and 
cutting  all  marking  stakes  to  a  small  diameter  it  is  often  more 
convenient  to  cut  a  notch  in  each  end  of  the  board  and  drive  the 
marking  stakes  in  the  notches  but  in  that  case  be  sure  that  the 
notches  come  exactly  in  the  center  of  the  board  and  not  nearer 
to  one  edge  than  the  other. 


DIAGRAM  SHOWING  LOCATION  OF  STAKES 
AND  METHOD  OF  STAKING. 


To  stake  out  a  field  for  planting1,  lay  out  a  row,  being  very  careful  to  have 
it  straight  and  exactly  at  right  angles  with  one  side  of  the  field .  Drive  small 
stakes  along  this  row,  one  every  twenty  (20)  feet.  Three  men  with  a  wire  or 
chain  forty  (40)  feet  long  with  a  ring  on  either  end  and  a  ring  in  the  middle  can 
then  lay  out  the  next  row  very  easily  by  the  end  men  holding  their  rings  on 
stakes  in  the  first  row,  the  third  man  simply  pulling  both  chains  tiyht  and  driv- 
ing his  stake.  Repeat  this  operation  for  all  the  rest  of  the  rows.  If  the  land  is  un- 
even, care  should  be  taken  to  hold  the  chains  level.  Occasional  "sighting"  may  be 
necessary  to  keep  the  rows  exactly  straight  in  every  diiection.  The  lines  in 
the  lower  left  hand  corner  illustrate  how  the  field  may  be  staked  out.  The 
straight  lines  in  the  center  of  the  diagram  show  how  to  sight  the  trees  to  get  the 
rows  straight  in  every  direction  It  pays  to  spend  time  to  have  all  the  rows 
of  trees  straight  in  every  direction  not  only  because  they  look  better  but  they 
are  much  easier  to  cultivate. 


COMPLETE  ORCHARD  AS  FIRST  PLANTED, 


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The  outline  represents  a  square  acre.  Dashed  lines  represent  boundaries  of 
units.  This  plan  is  drawn  to  scale  so  that  every  tree  is  twenty  (20)  feet 
distant  from  six  other  trees  set  on  the  corners  of  a  hexagon.  Each  unit  contains 
six  (6)  blue  and  six  (6)  red  and  four  (4)  green.  The  acre  contains  one  hundred 
and  twenty-six  (126)  trees. 

Let  the  blue  represent  Baldwins,  the  red  Mclntosh  and  the  green  some  early 
maturing  variety,  like  the  Wealthy;  or  the  poorest  trees  of  both  Baldwin  and 
McTntosh  maybe  set  in  the  green  circles  as  these  are  removed  in  the  first  thinning, 
so  have  no  permanent  place  in  the  orchard. 


ORCHARD  AFTER  FIRST  THINNING 
15  TO  18  YEARS  FROM  PLANTING 


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Trees  fifteen  (15)  to  eighteen  (18)  years  old.  In  removing:  the  trees  represent- 
ed by  green,  we  have  removed  a  tree  from  two  sides  of  every  tree  that  is  left. 

Each  unit  now  contains  six  (6;  red  and  six  (6)  blue.  The  acre  contains 
ninety-six  (96)  trees,  now  is  the  time  to  decide  which  variety  you  want  to  have 
predominate.  When  thinning  this  arrangement  if  you  know  which  variety  is  the 
most  profitable  for  you  to  grow,  cut  so  that  >ou  can  have  an  orchard  with  that 
variety  predominating,  or  with  an  equal  number  of  each  variety  if  there  is  then 
no  difference  in  their  value.  You  must  decide  this  question  now  as  further  thin- 
nings are  along  distinctly  different  schemes  as  you  will  note  as  you  read  along. 
Compare  page  7  with  page  10. 


ORCHARD  AFTER  SECOND  THINNING. 
(OPTIONAL  THINNIXG  AT  SAME  PERIOD  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  10) 


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This  arrangement  may  be  thinned  to  half  and  half,  or  to  three  (3)  blue  to 
one  (l)  red  as  shown  on  pages  8  and  9. 

Each  unit  contains  three  (3)  red  and  five  (5)  blue. 
The  acre  contains  sixty- three  (63)  trees. 


MATURE  ORCHARD.     (THINNED  TO  AN  EQUAL  NUMBER  OF  EACH  VARIETY, 
FOLLOWING  THE  SECOND  THINNING  AS  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  7.) 


Mature  orchard  in  full  bearing.  Each  tree  is  forty  feet  distant  from  six 
other  trees  set  on  the  corners  of  a  hexagxm. 

Each  full  unit  contains  an  equal  number  of  trees  of  each  variety  that  is  two 
(2)  blue  and  two  (2)  red. 

The  acre  contains  thirty  (30)  trees. 


MATURE  ORCHARD.     (THINNED  TO  PROPORTION  OF  3  TO  1 
FOLLOWING  THE  SECOND  THINNING  AS  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  7. 


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Mature  orchard  in  full  bearing.     Each  tree  is  forty  feet  distant  from  six  other 
trees  set  on  the  corners  of  a  hexagon. 

Each  full  unit  contains  three  (3)  blue  and  one  (l)  red. 
The  acre  contains  thirty-three  (33)  trees. 


ORCHARD  AFTER  SECOND  THINNING. 
(OPTIONAL  THINNING  AT  SAME  PERIOD  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  7) 


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This  arrangement  may  be  thinned  to  half  and  half,  or  to  three  (3)  red  to 
(l)  blue. 

Each  unit  contains  three  (3)  blue  and  five  (5)  red. 
The  acre  contains  sixty- three  (63)  trees. 


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10 


MATURE  ORCHARD.     (THINNED  TO  AN  EQUAL  NUMBER  OF  EACH  VARIETY, 
FOLLOWING  THE  SECOND  THINNING  AS  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  10.) 


Mature   orchard  in   full  bearing.     Each   tree  is  forty  feet  distant  from    six 
other  trees  set  on  the  corners  of  a  hexagon. 

Each  full  unit  contains  two  (2)  blue  and  two  (2)  red. 
The  acre  contains   thirty  (30)  trees. 


11 


MATURE  ORCHARD.     (THINNED  TO  PROPORTION  OF  3  TO  1 
FOLLOWING  THE  SECOND  THINNING  AS  SHOWN  ON  PAGE  10. 


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Mature  orchard  in  full  bearing.    Each  tree  is  forty  feet  distant  from  six  other 
trees  set  on  the  corner  of  a  hexagon. 

Each  full  unit  contains  three  (3)  red  and  one  (l)  blue. 
The  acre  contains  thirty- three  (33)  trees. 


12 


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75m-7,'30 


Mi 

Syracuse,  X.  Y 

PAT.  JAN.  21, 1808 


YD  1552 


SB35-5 

G-s 


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